While the Japanese army was in full swing of preparations, the American army was also preparing for the upcoming Battle of Marianas. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

It should be said that it was a very strange battle at this time...... Both warring sides knew each other's objectives before the war, that is, the focus of contention was on the Mariana Islands.

However, this was actually the result of the Japanese army's strategic mistake, and Hideki Tojo should have realized from the beginning that no matter how hard he tried, the Mariana would not be able to hold it, even for political gain or to consolidate his position as chief of staff, and he should not think that he had a chance to win and throw the main force of the Combined Fleet or even the land-based flight division to the Mariana Islands...... If Tojo can make the right judgment, then he should give an account to the country under the symbolic resistance of the Mariana Islands, and then send the main force of the flying division and the combined fleet to the Philippines, as Sato suggested.

After the war, the U.S. military received a plan from Kenri Sato, and some people thought that if Hideki Tojo really moved the main battlefield to the Philippines as Kenji Sato had planned, it would probably cause considerable trouble to the U.S. military.

In Kenri Sato's plan, he used as many as 50 airfields in the Philippines to conduct guerrilla warfare with fighter planes, so that the US military's overwhelming superiority in sea and air in terms of quantity and quality could not be brought into play, and then he took advantage of the complex hydrology of the waters near the Philippines to maneuver with the United forces with the combined fleet, and found the right time to give the US fleet a surprise attack, or cooperated with the Japanese land army to launch a counteroffensive against the landing Australian corps.

This in particular the counteroffensive against the Australian Legion could be quite effective...... The Australian Legion itself is a militia in nature, and its combat effectiveness and quality are not outstanding, and it can win in Australia and New Guinea because of the assistance of a large number of American-style equipment and the support of various naval and air forces on the one hand, and on the other hand, the advantages of local operations, including the enthusiasm for recovering the homeland and the support of the people for the army.

If the Australian Legion goes to the land of the Philippines to fight, then the local advantage will be weakened in stages, and because the naval and air forces of the US army are contained by the Japanese naval and air forces, and even sometimes the Japanese naval and air forces will have an advantage in a certain local area at a specific time, so it is a group of wolf-like Japanese soldiers who are killed in a group of sheep-like Australian troops...... If this continues to be fought, the most likely thing is that the Australian army will collapse, and the US military will not be much better.

If the battle turns out like this, that is, the combined fleet and flight divisions of the Japanese army are not wiped out in the Philippines, then even if the US military takes the Mariana Islands, it will not be safe to feel at ease, because the Mariana Islands will be attacked from both the Japanese mainland and the Philippines at any time.

Who knew that Tojo would destroy the Great Wall and send the main forces of the Combined Fleet and the Flying Division to the Mariana Islands to fight a tough battle with the American army...... At a time when the US military has a new type of fighter "Hellcat" and a proximity fuse, this practice is tantamount to asking for a dead end.

However, at this time, there was also a miscalculation in the US military.

Although the U.S. military knew that Toyoda's combat style was different from Koga's mineichi, they never imagined that the Japanese army would face the U.S. military head-on in the Mariana Islands.

At this time, the U.S. military thought that the Japanese army would still be unable to shrink out of the Combined Fleet as usual, and only use a small number of flight units and ground troops to build fortifications to delay the U.S. offensive speed and consume the strength of the U.S. Army...... This is also in line with the Japanese army's strategy of "gradually inviting attacks," and this strategy is no secret to the US military at this time, but Japan is just hot-headed and does not fight according to this strategy.

On the other hand, even Japan has in fact been sending troops to the Mariana Islands, which can be seen from the return of the submarine forces deployed by the US military on the Japanese transportation lines.

Therefore, Halsey believed that although the command style of Toyota's deputy was different from Koga Mineichi, the difference should be in the direction of ground defense, and the Japanese Combined Fleet might still not be dispatched.

Guided by this thinking, Halsey's offensive against the Mariana Islands focused on three directions.

The first is to continue to tighten the blockade of the Mariana Islands' shipping routes.

It is not difficult to do this, mainly because the US military has a clear advantage in the sea and air at this time, and what is even more powerful is that the US submarines are equipped with new torpedoes and the results of the battle have risen in a straight line, and from time to time US warships or aircraft carriers take fighter planes to the vicinity of the Mariana Islands to take a walk, which will put great pressure on the Japanese army's supply to the Mariana Islands.

Of course, it is impossible to completely blockade the Mariana Islands, and the fighters at this time do not have the ability to fight at night, and the Japanese transport ships generally choose to enter the Mariana Sea when night falls.

However, this was enough to make the Japanese army uncomfortable, as mentioned before, the Japanese army reduced the original plan to increase the number of airfields to nine, and the defenders were seriously under-equipped and weak.

And for the U.S. military, the better the pre-war blockade of the Mariana Islands shipping lines, the easier it will be after the battle begins.

Secondly, it is the collection of intelligence.

The US military has some advantages in this regard.

Compared with the Marshall Islands, which were all occupied or controlled by the Japanese army after World War I, the US military will be more familiar with the Mariana Islands, because before that, Guam, the largest island in the Mariana Islands, had always been controlled by the US military.

The U.S. military snatched Guam from Spain in the Spanish-American War in 1898, and what makes people a little ironic is that because of the backwardness of communication equipment at that time, the Spanish troops stationed on Guam did not even know that the United States and Spain were at war, and they thought that the American warship that appeared in front of them fired a salute, so the Spanish governor used a flag to express his gratitude to the U.S. warship, and apologized for not having enough gunpowder to fire a salute.

When the U.S. military heard it...... There will be such a good thing, and there is not even gunpowder to fire a salute?! So where will they be polite to the Spanish army, and immediately send troops to land and grab Guam.

It may sound strange how the Spanish army could not even have gunpowder for firing a salute...... However, it is not surprising that Guam is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and it is difficult to transport supplies, coupled with high temperatures, high salt, high humidity, and it is difficult to keep gunpowder shells for a long time, so the Spanish army is simply unable to withstand the attack of the American army.

It wasn't until 1941 that after the Japanese army tore their faces with the U.S. military in a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, they immediately took down Guam, a thorn in the side...... At that time, the U.S. military knew that it would not be able to hold Guam, so it withdrew its troops, expatriates, and military families early in the morning, sacrificing only a few dozen garrisons composed of local natives. (To be continued.) )